STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY H.R. 2773 – Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2022

By: Office of the White House

The Administration strongly supports the goals of H.R. 2773, the “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2022”, to equip fish and wildlife managers with the tools necessary to proactively address the most critical fish and wildlife conservation needs that we face today.  This bipartisan legislation builds on the successful track record of the State and Tribal Wildlife Grant Program, and would be authorized under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, to make billions of dollars in supplemental funding dedicated to the conservation of fish and wildlife species available to state and territorial fish and wildlife managers.  This will help prevent the need to list species and recover species currently listed, as threatened or endangered.  It would also fund similar conservation actions by Tribes.  

The bill would provide funding, totaling $187.5 million for fiscal years 2023-2026, to the Department of the Interior to carry out activities under the Endangered Species Act, including the implementation of a recovery grants program, and other conservation actions.  In particular, funds for consultation would aid in reducing potential impacts on wildlife and their habitat and ensuring that needed infrastructure projects are built swiftly and responsibly.

As the urgency of addressing a rapidly warming climate, mass extinction, and other conservation challenges increases, it is important that strong and innovative action is taken to ensure that fish and wildlife managers are provided with the tools they need to carry out science-based conservation actions that are so important to healthy populations of fish and wildlife.  The professional fish and wildlife managers of states, territories, and Tribes are among the leaders at the forefront of science-based efforts underway across the United States to tackle the climate crisis, improve access to nature for all communities, and protect our fish and wildlife and their habitats.  

The Administration appreciates the legislation’s goal of providing assistance to these critical partners to support timely, collaborative, science-based actions to conserve fish and wildlife and their habitats before they become too rare or costly to restore.  It also reflects the Administration’s goal of leveraging the expertise and knowledge of our partners through locally-led conservation and is consistent with the President’s America the Beautiful initiative.  The “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2022” would help to address the biodiversity crisis evidenced in the 12,000 Species of Greatest Conservation Need.  

The Administration supports science-based, locally-led, and collaborative wildlife and habitat conservation work across the United States to benefit species in need and looks forward to working with Congress to ensure that this bipartisan legislation is ultimately enacted and achieves its purposes, including effectively addressing the wildlife crisis and protecting many at-risk species from extinction.